


Billionaire + Bad Decisions + Altruism = Reunion

by Anonymous



Series: Mac + Desi + Zayn [6]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Bisexual!Desi, Everyone Continues to Need Therapy, Mission Fic, Multi, Pansexual!Mac, S4E01, Some of it, Some of the promised comfort?, This is the kind of thing that takes awhile to fix, nonbinary OC, self-indulgence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23072299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: A year and a half after the worst days of his life, Mac is doing...okay. Steady job, one friend. But when he's given a chance to get his old life back, he jumps at it; and he hopes to fix a few things along the way.
Relationships: Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)/Original Character(s), Angus MacGyver/Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, Desiree "Desi" Nguyen/Original Character(s)
Series: Mac + Desi + Zayn [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1374475
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: Anonymous





	Billionaire + Bad Decisions + Altruism = Reunion

It was probably at least a little sketchy to regularly have lunch with your ex’s before-and-now-after-you partner, but Mac couldn’t really bring himself to care. Zayn was the one who’d gotten him the job at the university they already worked at, and they were still friends.

Even if Zayn had been the catalyst of the whole damn thing, they’d be the first to point out that the breakup was about a million things besides that and that they’d forgiven Mac, at least. They were also the only person who ever called or texted him, made any effort at all.

So they got lunch. Zayn always picked, because they knew more places around campus than he did, and they sat for an hour and chatted and he graded and they bounced ideas for events off of him. At first, he’d thought they were also a professor, but it turned out they worked in the so-called Diversity Office as head of Queer Programming at the university. So when they needed ideas, he was more than happy to provide. 

They talked about things besides work, too, like books they’d been reading or project ideas. Zayn always made sure they had some new photos of Puff every time, and he’d show them some new gizmo he’d fiddled, and it was good. 

He also ached to ask Zayn if Desi missed him like he missed her, but he didn’t. One of the silent promises he’d made himself was that he wouldn’t put them in that situation, or any situation that might make them uncomfortable, because they didn’t deserve that after being immeasurably kind to him and not cutting him off like Desi did. 

It was kind of hard to keep that promise to himself now that he couldn’t ignore that he was in love with them too, but he did his best.

Today, they were at a hole-in-the-wall Middle Eastern restaurant whose owner knew Zayn by name and who would let them practice their shy Arabic every time they ordered. Mac let them order for him whenever they came here - usually once a week - because this was their area of expertise. After this, he had another lecture, and then he’d probably be heading home to an empty house again.

He wasn’t really better. He’d accepted Zayn’s offer and gone to therapy, but he was only there once a month, and twelve sessions weren’t going to fix his fucked up life and his fucked up brain. There were a million little signs, really, that he was still a mess: the disarray in his apartment, the way he hadn’t seen anyone besides Zayn in over a year. But he had a job, and he was going to therapy, and he could at least pretend things were fine.

He checked his watch. What was not fine, though, was the fact that he was _definitely_ going to be late for his afternoon lecture.

“Shit, Zayn, I need to go.”

They laughed. “You do this _all the time_. Hurry along, professor.”

So he hopped in his car and he drove and he sprinted and he made it into a lecture hall full of young adults on their phones only three minutes late. No one paid attention, because no one ever paid attention, until he made some potassium catch fire. 

It was a 101 level chem class, and while he couldn’t fault Zayn for getting him in where they could, god he wished he had students who cared. He missed people caring. He missed Phoenix and doing something that mattered.

But when he found himself followed after class, one Russ Taylor asking for his help on an off-the-books, world-saving mission, he didn’t have to miss it anymore. It was stupid. It was risky. But the intel seemed sound, and besides, he’d never turn down a chance to save the world one last time with his team.

So he was in.

\---

“Why are you here?” Desi demanded, and Mac wondered the same thing, staring into the eyes of the woman he was still very much in love with and finding nothing but disgust. The bass was giving him a headache and the flashing lights weren’t helping. “Get a drink or get out.”

Bozer had said this would be bad. Or “nuclear.” The breakup details he got had been vague, since no one knew about Zayn and at this point there seemed no reason to bring them into it, but that meant that Bozer assumed what was already bad was worse.

Or maybe Bozer was right. 

“I’ve got a job,” he offered. “Come work with me.”

It was the wrong thing to say. She snorted. “No way. That’s a terrible idea.”

They bickered, a bit, and for a moment it was like they were back together, but in the end stages, when Desi’s loving mockery turned a bit more pointed and a bit less loving.

“Desi, lives are at stake,” he pleaded, because of course she wouldn’t do it for him, but maybe she’d do it for the world.

She rolled her eyes at him and walked away to “go to work, Mac,” and she told some blonde guy at the bar to leave a girl alone. Then he shoved her and it was all over for him, as Desi aimed a few perfect hits and knocked him to the ground, literally dragging him out of the bar to a smattering of applause.

That was still hot. It was also slightly terrifying to know Mac had a decent chance of ending up on the bad side of that.

He followed her outside. “Listen, I know things ended badly between us -”

“I’ll say,” Desi snorted. “Not a whole lot of difference between you and this asshole here.” 

Okay, that hurt. “That’s not true.” She didn’t look remotely sorry and he knew she was trying to get under his skin, so he took a deep breath and tried another angle. “Bouncing thugs out of clubs might scratch the itch, but tell me you don’t miss the action.”

She couldn’t. He’d been with her in the beginning, knew she liked her job but didn’t love it, would bitch about it while Zayn iced her shoulder or just gave her something to eat. He saw the twist of her lip, the sparkle in her eye, and he knew he’d got her. 

“Fine.” She gestured at the counter. “Drinks and details, and I’ll consider it.”

Desi got something complimentary - some kind of fancy bourbon, he thought - and he did not get such perks, so he opted for the cheapest beer on the menu. Being a professor did not pay well. 

“I’m surprised,” she began, speaking over the lip of her glass, “that you didn’t tell Zayn to talk me into this.”

He flinched, ready to get his ass kicked. “You knew?”

“Knew what? That you two hang out?” Her face screwed up. “I’m not sure whether I’m more offended you think I’m that stupid, or that you thought Zayn would keep it from me.”

“I just thought -” He took a sip of his beer, willing himself not to say anything stupid to make this worse. “You don’t like me very much,” he tried. She snorted, the specific one she used when she thought he was vastly understating something. “I didn’t think you’d want them to be around me.”

“Oh, I don’t,” she said with a carefully neutral expression, but something told Mac this had been a fight. Her fingers tightened just a little around her glass. “But they still trust you, and they’re an adult. Zayn can make their own choices about who they spend time with.” She took another long sip. 

Well. That was a surprisingly mature stance for a woman who’d just called out his “terrible taste in movies” and snoring. 

“Zayn didn’t want anything to do with it,” he admitted. They’d been the first one he’d asked, even though they’d never been on a mission with him before. “They know Russ Taylor and they don’t trust the intel. They also said if I wanted you, I had to ask you myself.”

That got a laugh out of Desi, probably the least mocking one she’d given. “Oh, yeah, they hate him. Also, gotta admit, you’ve got guts, MacGyver.” She knocked back the rest of her drink and gave him a feral smile. “Fine. I’ll do it. I know you still have my number, text me what I need to know. I need to get back to work.” 

She slid her empty glass to the bartender, a pretty redhead who’d been staring at Desi the entire time. She winked once, for good measure, and then walked off into the crowd without saying goodbye. 

“Not your girlfriend, then?” The bartender asked. 

“Ex,” Mac replied, and tried to say it was better that way, but the words wouldn’t come out. He hadn’t realized how hard this would be, between the way she got right under his skin and the way he wanted to feel hers. 

At least he’d get her for one last mission.

\---

When they got back to the safehouse, Desi’s phone wouldn’t stop blowing up. Mac had a feeling he knew who it was - he had a couple texts from them, too. Besides, she was staring at her phone with the soft look he hadn’t seen on her face in over a year. It wasn’t ruined at all by the bruise on her cheekbone; if anything, that just made it more like her. Though he knew Zayn would flip to see it.

Riley glanced over at Desi’s soft face, then looked back at Mac with raised eyebrows. He didn’t think she’d _ever_ seen Desi look like that before. He just shrugged, because it wasn’t even his place anymore. He didn’t know where he’d start, anyway. 

Desi was holding her phone at a weird angle and he got a feeling she was taking a photo of him. Probably to make fun of him. He debated flipping her off but decided it wasn’t worth it, just let her have her fun. Besides, he’d already sent Zayn at least three stealth photos of Desi, all of which received heart eyes and a slew of compliments he couldn’t help but agree with, about how she was the most beautiful woman to ever exist and so on. 

He’d tell her later. 

They admitted that they regretted not coming, but he promised to tell them everything over lunch. He almost pointed out they could join Bozer at command before he realized Bozer had no idea who they were. Still, he wished they were at his house, keeping watch and helping out. He wanted to come home to them.

Then his focus was pulled by the mission, and the fact Russ’ company was the one that had made the bio-weapon in the first place, the bastard. Had to survive the mission to talk about it, Mac reminded himself, and he threw his focus back where it belonged.

\---

For a few seconds, Mac was pretty sure he’d die in a water treatment plant full of gel. He regretted a lot of things. Every fight he’d ever had with Desi seemed incredibly stupid. He should definitely have made sure Zayn knew he thought they were amazing. He should never have let Riley and Bozer slip away from him, only to be briefly reunited before his demise. He should’ve called Jack more. The number of regrets about his dad were too many to count.

And then Desi and Russ had a helicopter and Riley gave him her backpack and he was out of the mess, rising in a slapped together harness and looking down at the blinking green light refracted through gel and bubbles. 

The paramedics were fast and he tried to use the shock blanket to clean himself off, to little effect; it was sticky and it was stubborn. He was going to need a ten year shower to get all of the gel out of various places it really shouldn’t be. 

But when Riley ran over, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. It was just like old times. She hugged him, and he laughed a little, and she looked at him with a mixture of fondness and disbelief. The usual. God, he’d missed the usual. 

Then he saw Desi. She was running towards him - running - with a look he hadn’t had directed at him in forever on her face, and when she stopped in front of him, he almost thought she’d kiss him. He certainly wanted her to. 

But she didn’t, just threw her arms around him and squeezed so tight he felt his ribs pop and it was enough. He wanted to stay in her arms forever. Of course, Russ had to ruin it by coming over and making stupid comments that he probably figured were endearing, but it was nice while it lasted. 

“So, what now, guys?” Riley asked. 

Mac sighed, shrugging on his jacket. “Well, I have papers to grade.”

“Back to the real world, I guess,” Desi added, but she didn’t sound as miserable as he felt, because she had someone to go home to. 

Russ had other plans, though, and dragged them all to the Phoenix building - which he now owned, apparently - and promised MacGyver his life back. Honestly, Mac couldn’t complain about that, even if his hair was stuck uncomfortably to his forehead and his shirt was stiff in places it shouldn’t be. 

Somehow that made it all the more tragic to go home alone. As Mac stepped under the hot shower stream, massaging shampoo into his gel-messed hair, he tried not to think about what he’d do for the next few hours, all by himself. He missed Jack; Jack would never let him be alone. Not after a mission, and not ever. 

After the water ran cold and he’d freed himself from as much of the job as he could, he toweled off. When he got to his room, though, he realized he heard voices - two of them, both as familiar to him as his own. He shoved on his clothes as fast as he could and found Riley and Bozer already on his porch, drinking his beer with a fire going.

“It’s tradition, right?” Riley said. Besides Mac, she was probably the one who’d missed the Phoenix most. He’d hazard a guess she’d talked Bozer into it.

He grinned. “Right.”

Matty walked in a few minutes later. “Heard there was a celebration,” she greeted. Riley passed her a bottle from the cooler. 

“So did I,” added Russ Taylor from the doorway, and all of them looked at each other, probably wondering _how_ he’d heard. But whatever, he was bankrolling them, he could stay for a beer.

Noticeably absent was Desi. She’d rarely come around before they broke up, so he shouldn’t have expected anything, but still found himself disappointed. Things had actually gone...decently well, he thought.

He was facing the fire and alternating between looking down at it and looking out at the city. It was a beautiful view. The fact that his back was to the door was why it took Riley’s straightening up and surprised, “Desi?” to get his attention.

But what caught him wasn’t Desi; it was Zayn, standing just behind her. Their mop of red curls was pushed out of their face by a couple pearl barrettes, and they were wearing a dark blue button down under a denim jacket. They looked shy and out of place, and he was pretty sure they were wearing their black lipstick just so they didn’t combust. 

“Hey, everyone.” Desi gave a little wave. “This is my fiancé, Zayn.”

Mac’s jaw dropped. Now _that_ was something he wasn’t prepared for. Zayn hadn’t mentioned anything about it, and they talked about more or less everything with him. 

Riley and Bozer looked at each other, and then at him as Desi made her way over to the fire pit, carefully placing Zayn between her and Mac. He shrugged helplessly at them, unable to offer an explanation. 

Matty gave a nod, seemingly the only one unsurprised by this development. “Hello again, Zayn.”

They dipped their chin. “Director Webber.” 

Matty snorted. “Not anymore, really. Please, call me Matty like everyone else.”

Riley was squinting at them, studying their face - perhaps wondering how she hadn’t found anything about Zayn in Desi’s file or internet footprint - but it was Bozer who snapped his fingers and pointed at them. 

“You used to work in the lab at Phoenix, right?” he asked. 

They nodded, blushing. “Um. Yeah. I was one of the lab techs.” There was black nail polish chipping on their fingers and they scratched at it absently.

“Zayn here will be another asset on our team,” Desi declared. She glanced around, daring anyone to challenge.

Russ raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t agree to this,” he protested. Matty rolled her eyes at him, clearly already having made a decision. His authority was laughable at best.

“We’re a package deal, Taylor.” Desi stared him down, steely flint in her eyes, and Mac knew she was going to win this one. She would always win.

“Relationships between teammates are...messy,” Taylor pointed out, which was hilariously unnecessary considering the sheer amount of bickering Mac and Desi had done today, but Matty waved her hand at him dismissively. 

“Welcome aboard, Zayn Raffoul.” Matty smiled. “That’s Riley Davis, Wilt Bozer, and I’m sure you know Angus MacGyver.” If it was possible, Zayn’s face flushed even redder. “This is Russ Taylor, the new bankroll for our revived Phoenix foundation.”

Russ frowned. “And a team member,” he protested. 

Zayn chewed their lip, getting little smudges of black on the bottom of their teeth, but honestly, Mac found it endearing. “Yeah, I know who he is,” they replied, not quite keeping the disdain out of their voice. “I’ve heard he’s trying to do better, now.”

Mac caught sight of the engagement ring, then, reflecting fire light in his eyes. It was silver and thin, elegantly simple. He’d seen it before, he realized, in Desi’s personal belongings. _“It was my mother’s,”_ she had explained at the time.

He was torn between happiness for them and something like jealousy, but it wasn’t that he didn’t want that to happen, he just...missed being a part of it. And he really wanted to kiss Zayn. And Desi.

He wondered if he could convince Desi to make a regrettable decision in the afterglow of the mission, fall into his bed one last time, but he realized Zayn wouldn’t actually let any of that happen. They consistently made a point to stop regrettable decisions, which was usually a loveable trait but was very annoying when he was on a self-destructive streak. He almost groaned before realizing he’d get questions on it. 

They were all making polite small talk, Riley and Bozer trying to get to know Zayn but also looking worriedly over at Mac every few seconds. He felt like he had to do something to let everyone know that he was okay with this, that his friends didn’t have to be defensive on his behalf. “You know,” Mac said, “Zayn actually got me the job at the university. They’re in charge of some of the diversity programming there.”

Riley smiled a genuine smile at that. “Oh, sick. Like what?”

And then they were off, chattering, and Zayn’s shoulders relaxed, and he ached to put his arm around their waist, but Desi’s was already there and putting two would cause questions. Also Desi might destroy him. He wasn’t sure how this whole...thing was gonna go.

Zayn had seen Bozer’s movie, which was a good way to win him over, and they could talk a little bit of coding with Riley, earning a smile. Riley and Zayn bonded over cute girls in some TV show they both watch, and Desi even got involved to offer her opinion. Bozer argued at one point, but Riley decided he didn’t get an opinion since he’d only seen one episode. Still more than Mac, though, who had seen zero. 

Russ tapped out first, then Matty shortly afterward. Riley said she was tired unexpectedly early, but she went too, leaving just Bozer with the three of them. Usually Desi was the first to go, but not this time. 

Bozer, for his part, was very obviously looking around and making calculations, but also yawning. Mac realized Bozer didn’t want to leave him without backup alone with Desi and her mysterious new “fiancé.” No matter how much Mac showed he liked them, Bozer wanted to have his back.

But Desi didn’t seem particularly intent on moving, either, and he kind of wanted to talk to her alone. 

Another big yawn and eyes slipping shut. “Bozer, go home,” Mac directed. 

Bozer looked at him, concern etched on his face. “Are you - are you sure?” He jerked his head at Desi, again being entirely obvious. 

“You’re clearly exhausted. We’ll be fine.”

Desi narrowed her eyes at Bozer as he left with several glances back over his shoulder. When he was gone, Mac turned back to her and finally demanded, “What the hell?”

“She proposed pretty much in the span of time between you all being at the Phoenix and her dragging me here,” Zayn explained, flushing. “I’m sorry, I told her it wasn’t the way to tell you, I wanted to tell you at school -”

Mac tilted his head. “Well, also that, because 72 hours ago you weren’t engaged, but I meant more Desi bringing you to meet everyone and adding you to the team.” Glad to know Zayn hadn’t kept him out of the loop or anything, though.

“I’ll level with you, MacGyver.” Desi fixed him with a hard stare. “I don’t like you very much right now.” 

It was something he’d said first, but it still stung to hear her say it back.

Zayn shoved Desi’s shoulder. “Des. Be nice.” They grimaced apologetically at Mac, and he wondered how much input they’d had in this plan.

“See? That. That’s exactly it.” Desi rolled her shoulders. “You and I are always at our best when they’re around. Always have been. We fight less, we get shit done. They help me deal with you, and I know they help you deal with me, too.”

It was a sound assessment, actually.

“So when Russ said he wants us to do this full time, I realized the most likely way to keep us from killing each other was to have Zayn around, too.” She tilted her head. “It took some convincing, but they agreed.”

Mac found his hands twitching in his pockets, fidgeting with whatever knicknacks were in there. “So now that you and I aren’t together, Zayn can meet the team?” he asked, trying not to sound as bitter and hurt as he felt about that. 

Zayn shook their head. “It’s not that. I just -” They took a deep breath. “We have no intention to lie, so if anyone bothers to ask questions or pay attention, they’re gonna figure out pretty quick you and I dated Desi at the same time. But you swore they’d be cool, or you’d make them be cool, and I...I hope that still applies.” They worried at their lip and every nibble drew Mac’s eyes back down to their mouth. 

This was going to be both heaven and hell. 

“I convinced them it was worth it with the ‘fate of the world’ stuff,” Desi explained. “Also they like conspiracy theories and shit -”

“I like _mysteries_ , Des!”

“- so they want to help us solve this.”

Glancing away, Zayn added softly, “Also, I was tired of hiding. I want - I want to try.”

That, he could understand. He opened his arms and they leaned in for a hug. “Well, I’m glad to have you as part of the team.” 

It felt good to have their head on his shoulder, even if Desi was watching the two of them with pursed lips and crossed arms. 

She didn’t school her features into indifference fast enough and when Zayn pulled back and sat between the two, they caught it, heaving a sigh. “Des, come _on_. He apologized and I accepted; you can’t hold a grudge over something he did _to me_ forever.”

“Sure I can,” she muttered. “Besides, there are other things.”

Zayn scoffed. “Oh for God’s sake, it’s not actually about the ‘adolescent preoccupation with 80s pop’ or the snoring or any of that shit, it’s that you genuinely liked him and you trusted him and you got burned, so now your solution is to hate him and not trust him ever again so you don’t get hurt again. And also to completely ignore any part you may have had in it.”

Their pronouncement was followed by a palpable awkward silence. Desi actually blushed and looked away, frowning. 

“Look, you both said some _really awful shit_ to each other,” Zayn continued. “Yeah, Mac was a jerk, but you were a jerk right back. I mean, half the time you were the one starting things.”

A bunch of fights they’d had, things Mac had let himself say, popped into his head and he felt ashamed. He’d never properly apologized for the things he said. But he was also still hurting over some of the things she’d thrown back at him.

Mac didn’t really know what to say in the present, but he was willing to try. “I fucked up, and I’m sorry. Maybe we shouldn’t date...” God, he hated saying that; he really wanted her back. “But we were good as friends. Really good. So let’s go back to that.” He offered his hand. “I’m willing to try if you are.”

Desi looked down at his hand with distaste, but took it and shook it. “Fine. But for the job, and because it’s what Zayn wants.”

If that was all he could get right now, he’d take it. They shook hands, and he let Zayn’s bright smile fill him with hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Am I doing this? Guess so. Thanks Season 4 for having me put Zayn between these two so they quit bickering. Honestly the premiere gave me some nice ideas but we're still gonna see where this goes. I'm kind of along for the ride as much as you are!  
> Hope y'all enjoyed! Stay tuned.


End file.
